A Dozen Roses  A Cherimon
by hijstn
Summary: charlie wakes up on valentines day without alex, and finds that alex is leading him on a hunt.


A DOZEN ROSES

[i]Februrary 13th: Charlie was tired. So…very…tired. And he had fallen asleep in his bed, with Alex by his side as usual. But he woke up for some reason…then he understood why: Alex had gotten up for some reason. Charlie yawned, and settled back to sleep, assuming Alex would be back soon to cuddle up with him again…[/i]

~'~,~'~~~~

On February 14th, Valentines Day, Charlie woke up without Alex laying beside him. Confused, Charlie groggily turned towards the absence he wasn't used to. Instead of his boyfriend, a rose lay upon the covers. Attached to the rose was a note. It was a note that was written in Alex's handwriting.

"Happy Valentines Day, my lovely Charlieburg. Around London, there are a Dozen Roses, and they are yours to find. Eleven of the twelve will lead to another rose. The twelfth rose will lead to me. Lets start off easy. I have no idea whether the hints later on will be the same way. Anyways: '…And that's why I hate Mario Kart _."

~'~,~'~~~~

Charlie sat up, and once he was awake enough to realize he would have to get up, he changed into a t-shirt and some PJ pants, and walked into the living room. Sure enough, next to the Wii console lay a rose. Still holding the first rose, the Brit walked over to the TV, and picked up the second one. The note read, "Where do we like to lie other than your bed?" Charlie started to smile, and started walking over to Alex's room.

~'~,~'~~~~

There lay a third red rose upon Alex's self-named bed, next to one of Alex's numerous hoodies. Charlie added the hoodie to his outfit, and the proceded to read the note. "If someone asked me if I could have it all back, I'd tell them to look behind the title tracker in Charlie's room." Charlie sighed. It seemed like Alex actually wanted him to try and use his brain, when all Charlie wanted was to lay next to Alex. First: "Charlie's room." Charlie wandered back to his room, and laid down on his bed. His bed. Without Alex. Charlie sighed, and thought back to the clue. The first part of the note was a line from "A Thousand Hours," that was obvious enough. Title Tracker…What would track a thousand hours? "Of course," the brunette thought, and moved his clock. Then, he grabbed for the rose that lay behind it.

~'~,~'~~~~

Rolling onto his back, Charlie read the note to himself. "Talk to the man who's married to an abundance of these." An Abundance of Katherines? There was only one man to call. Hank Green picked up on the second ring.

"Hello?"

"Hank?"

"Charlie?"

"Yeah…um, did Alex…contact you…for any reason recently?" Charlie asked, hoping he had interpreted the clue correctly.

"Yep. He told me that if you called, to tell you, that he…" Here, Hank's voice turned into one of confusion. "…had a rose for you in the [i]freezer[/i], and that you should check your P.O. Box. Um…that was it."

"k – thanks!"

"No problem. Happy Valentines Day."

"You too." With that, Charlie hung up.

~'~,~'~~~~

First, he traveled into the kitchen to retrieve his rose from the freezer, and once that task was done, he stood up to change from his PJ pants into jeans.

~'~,~'~~~~

Just as he was pulling on his favorite pair of blue jeans, he noticed that his phone wasn't on the desk where it had been charging the night before. Confused for a moment, Charlie shook his head to clear his mind of the thought. He had probably thought he had plugged it in, and had just misplaced it, leaving it somewhere around the flat. Once he finished changing, he grabbed his P.O. Box key and the first five roses, and headed out the door. After a bit, Charlie reached the post office and his P.O. Box. Inside lay a rose that had been shoved inside, and the effect of the action was a broken stem. Still, Charlie reached for the red rose, and read the attached note. "I'll just make this hint short and sweet: The next rose (and hint) lay in Tom and Edd's flat. Enjoy!"

All six roses and Charlie reached Tom and Edd's flat a little over a half an hour later. Charlie knocked on the door, which got opened by a red faced Tom (who, for some [i]weird[/i] reason, wasn't wearing a shirt).

"Can I come in?"

"Um…sure. Are you here for the roses…?"

"Yeah. Do you know where it is?"

"In the Kitchen."

~'~,~'~~~~

Making his way into Tom and Edd's kitchen, Charlie spotted the seventh rose laying on the table. Next to it, written on a notecard, were two words: "Ask Tom." Charlie turned around. "Do you have my 8th rose?"

~'~,~'~~~~

Instead of answer, Tom simply walked into his room, and returned moments later with a rose and a note card in his hand. Charlie started to read the note, but was interrupted by Tom.

"Ummm…can you…read that outside? Sorry," the blue haired boy rushed on, "but its just that…there are no more roses here and Edd and I were…are…kinda…busy."

Both boys were blushing now.

"Oh, um, yeah." Charlie replied, quickly hurrying out of his friends' flat. However, at the door, he turned around, and shouted, "Have LOTS of fun!" Then the brunette ran out of the building, as Tom turned even redder, and walked over to a park bench to read his new note. "The American holds the key to the 9th." Charlie rolled his eyes. It seemed like after the 3rd hint, Alex gave up trying to make the hints difficult. Nonetheless, he walked over to the hotel his American friend Michael Aranda was staying at. Michael was staying in a hotel room from the 13th of February to the 15th, even though both Alex and Charlie had told him that it wasn't necessary. Now, it seemed that Alex had used Michael's new setting as part of his scheme.

~'~,~'~~~~

Charlie only had to knock twice on Micheal's door for it to open. Michael stood in the doorway – holding a rose. "I believe Alex requested this be given to you." Michael noted, holding out the rose for Charlie.

Charlie took the rose.

"There are two, and one is used, and as you can assume, the other's not. Look between the stacks on the empty one." A confused look was etched on the British boy's face when he looked up from the note. Sensing this, Michael offered a hint: "It's somewhere in the room. Giving Michael a grateful nod, Charlie set down his roses on Michael's dresser and began to look around the room. He looked through dresser drawers, behind the TV, and in the nightstand. When he started to go through Michael's luggage, the black and blond hair man intervened. "Stop please. I will give you a hint if you stop destroying my room."

"Sorry," Charlie muttered.

Michael laughed. "It's fine. Do you want hint?" Charlie nodded, relief showing in his blue eyes. "Ok – here I go. You ready? The 'stacks' are pillows." Looking from Michael's bed to vacant one, Charlie jumped on the unused comforter, and started digging his way between the two piles of pillows.

~'~,~'~~~~

~'~,~'~~~~

There lay…two?...roses, but only one note. "Two in one…is that ok, my sweet Charlie? Number ten, and number eleven in the rose count. So: here's the last hint for a rose. The next hint finds me… ;) Now, this isn't a hint, as much as it is a set of directions. Go to our flat, and call your phone to find it." Charlie sighed. At least he new that his phone was safe, and that he wasn't crazy thinking he'd seen it the night before. Of course Alex took it…of course. Charlie laughed, and continued reading the note. "My phone will be on the kitchen counter to call your phone with. See you soon! 3"

~'~,~'~~~~

Charlie thanked Michael, and hurried out of his friend's hotel room. After an awful lot of running through the streets of London, Charlie found himself back at his flat. Walking into the kitchen, Charlie found Alex's phone on the kitchen counter, right where Alex said it would be. The blue-eyed brunette grabbed the phone, and dialed his own phone number, listening for his ringtone to pierce the silence. A ringing sound sounded from Charlie's room, and when Charlie rushed in, he noticed that his phone was in the same position, charging, as it had been the night before. The only difference was that a rose now lay next to it upon his desk.

After declining the call from Alex's phone, Charlie swiped his thumb to unlock the phone. There, in a note, were two words: "Turn around." Charlie could only stare at the message, hoping that his "prize" would be somewhere near, and the hunt for his boyfriend could end. Slowly, Charlie turned around, and smiled when he saw Alex laying across the blue-eyed vlogger's bed clad only in boxers. Before Charlie realized what he was doing, he had jumped onto his bed and started kissing his boyfriend.

After a couple minutes, the two broke apart. "Hey," Charlie whispered. Alex's response was to start kissing his boyfriend again, first on the lips, and then on the neck. The two boys lay there for the rest of the day and night, forgetting the world, forgetting everything except each other, and just spent the day, Valentines Day, together.


End file.
